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I really hope that this experience, and the experiences of the other gay Republicans that have been in the news lately, will show members of the GOP that gay Americans come in different shapes, sizes, and styles. Some are the San Francisco drag queens that they seem to think will invade their schools and make out with their children (the gays of red state nightmares), and some are lonely, old, white men in suits who are driven underground for satisfaction of their sexual desires because the culture that permeates the GOP makes a free and honest expression of their sexuality impossible. Gays, believe it or not, are everyday Americans that are respectable members of red state communities. Every once in a while, they lead them.

I hope the Republican citizens of Idaho look at their senator and say, “We were satisfied with this man’s work as our representative in Congress before we knew he is gay. And now that we know, nothing changes.” There are “moral values” hidden somewhere in that kind of tolerance, I’m sure of it.